We Need More Women Leaders in Recruitment!
The APSCo Women in Recruitment Benchmarking Report Summer 2021 highlights numerous areas in which the recruitment industry is STILL not equal for men and women. The key takeaway for me surrounds the number of recruitment agencies that have a female leadership presence. The report says: “At leadership and board levels, numbers are still low, with just 28% of respondents reporting that women made up half of their board or were on their senior leadership teams. These numbers are on par with the results of our last benchmarking survey, indicating little movement in the gender balance at senior levels in many staffing businesses.”
We CAN Improve the Male:Female Ratio in the Workplace
This figure needs to increase, and the good news is it can be done! The number of women in FTSE 100 boardroom roles jumped to 39.1% in 2020 from just 12.5% 10 years prior. Imagine what the recruitment industry would be like if we could increase our 28% to 39%!
Why are Women Leaders Vital for Success?
Before we start to consider how this change can be made across the recruitment industry, just why is this important for a recruitment business to have a female presence on their leadership team?
Seeing is Believing
Fact: Motivation is imperative to success. Also fact: Everybody needs role models to look up to and inspire them. Having someone within your business for others to look up to will allow your employees to visualise and picture themselves moving up the career leader into that very position, spurring their ambition. Without a woman at leadership level, who do your female employees have to look up to?
Staff Retention
To manage a recruitment business effectively, scenarios and ideas need to be looked at from different viewpoints or angles to get the best outcomes. Now, more than ever, staff retention is key. Every manager will oversee their team members differently, and women can bring a different outlook or transformation idea to the board.
The McKinsey Women in the Workplace report states “Compared with men in similar positions, women managers are taking more consistent action to promote employee well-being—including checking in on their team members, helping them manage their workloads, and providing support for team members who are dealing with burnout or navigating work-life challenges.”
Including women at leadership level will help others see things from a different perspective, especially when it comes to topics such as employee wellbeing and satisfaction. These simple actions can make a major difference in lowering burnout and supporting unmotivated staff within the workforce.
Staff Attraction
Perks such as uncapped commissions, holiday incentives and cute office dogs are becoming the norm across the industry, which means candidates are delving deeper into the company values, structure culture and experience of existing staff. Showcasing that you are a company that values diversity and empowers women at all levels will get you ahead of the competition.
Innovation
I am proud to say that one my clienta (Simply Commerce Recruitment) is part of the 28% of companies with a female representation at leadership level, 66% of our leadership team is female! We are often asked by clients to share information on how we are following diversity and equality guidelines, and our equal leadership team enables us to stand out from the crowd and shows clients that we are serious about committing to gender equality and diversity.
Improved Communication
It is thought that men tend to use facts, data and goals to solve problems and address situations, whereas women tend to share more in-depth information whilst providing all parties with a chance to be included in the discussion, thus developing the relationship. These different styles of conversation are important to remember, and the building of those all-important relationships may help secure your next new client or achieve a successful negotiation with a supplier.
These are just a few reasons why I feel it is important to have a female presence at leadership level. Every recruitment business wants success, and I strongly believe that a female presence is key to helping achieve this.
In my next article, I am going to be delving a little deeper into how recruitment businesses can go about increasing the number of women at leadership level.
Reference articles
APSCo Women in Recruitment Benchmarking Report Summer 2021
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